Former Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy won the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in last month’s primary election, pushing him closer to his goal of taking over longtime U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat. Tracy is facing Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the Nov. 3 general election.

Illinois Republicans held their annual events around the Illinois State Fair on Thursday, with former Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy launching a U.S. Senate campaign and Ted Dabrowski announcing he will launch a campaign for governor in the coming weeks.

Springfield attorney and former chair of the Illinois Republican Party Don Tracy announced Wednesday he is running for U.S. Senate — adding to a field of candidates making a bid for outgoing Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat.

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois) said excessive regulations are hurting agriculture, blaming the so-called “communist environmental movement, the ‘Green Bad Deal’ that Donald Trump has called out as a sham issue. And I want to tell you as a farmer, we love CO2 – and trees and plants love it too. They have demonized the miracle molecule that causes things to grow.”

Attorney Kathy Salvi ran unsuccessfully against incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in 2022. Salvi assumes the post July 19, the day after the Republican National Convention wraps in Milwaukee.

On Thursday morning, the Illinois GOP announced the three candidates for the state chair post. The decision comes as a Republican lawmaker is voicing concerns that a leadership change ahead of November’s elections will serve to further harm the minority party’s political chances.

Don Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in a two-page letter that cited intraparty “power struggles.” He also said he is concerned about the direction the party is taking under the current membership of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee.

During Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair, state party leaders sought a message of unity ahead of the 2024 presidential election. While former President Donald Trump’s name and political slogans were visible on signage and clothing, the speakers generally kept their focus on Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Last Tuesday was instead an unmitigated disaster for the Illinois GOP — losing every race for statewide office and falling further into super-minority status in the statehouse. It’s prompted calls from within for some soul-searching.

In Illinois, where Democrats hold both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices and super-majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, GOP nominee for governor, state Senator and farmer Darren Bailey is hoping to ride in on a tractor.

Democrats had their day in the limelight at the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday. Next, it was Republicans’ turn to get into campaign mode, with an annual meeting of the Illinois GOP’s top leaders and a rally.